Fabric with a base of non-woven fabric strips

ABSTRACT

A textile product is described which is composed of a weft and a warp, in which the weft and/or the warp are composed of strips of non-woven fabric. This product is applied in the production of cloths for cleaning floors, dusters, napkins, bedspreads, couch covers, cushion covers, car seat covers, doormats, etc. The strips of non-woven fabric are preferably composed of hydroentangled or thermobonded fibres, and with a base of materials such as viscose, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, cellulose pulp. The invention also includes mixed textile products, in which non-woven products are combined with materials other than non-woven such as wool, silk, synthetic fibres, etc. This method is advantageously, though not exclusively, suited for recycling even waste materials derived from the processing of non-woven fabric.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns the field of articles in non-wovenfabric, with particular application in the field of cleaning and/orprotection of surfaces in the home.

PRIOR ART

Materials with a non-woven base are widely applied in various sectors.In the procedures for producing articles with a non-woven base, thisproduct is normally unwound from bobbins which hold it and processed bymeans of the treatments required by the article concerned (for examplestitching, rolling, incision of patterns in relief, moulding, cuttinginto the final shape, etc.); collateral with these procedures it theproduction of high quantities of waste non-woven fabric, composed of thetrimmings left over from cutting the fabric into the desired dimensionsand shape. Most of these trimmings are in the form of strips of variouslength, derived from lengthwise cutting of the peripheral portions ofnon-woven fabric unwound from the bobbin.

These materials are normally discarded or recycled in the production oflow-value products. The products of recycling thus obtained do not coverthe value of the original material lost in the waste: it is thereforedesirable to reduce the waste of material in these procedures, or toincrease the economic yield of the recycling of waste, so as to reducethe overall cost of the procedures for producing articles in non-wovenfabric.

SUMMARY

The object of the present invention is a method for increasing theeconomic yield of the recycling of waste from the processing ofnon-woven fabric. This result has been obtained by applying thetechniques of weaving to non-woven fabrics, that is those materialswhich on account of their nature do not require any weaving. Using thismethod it has been possible to obtain textile products composed ofstrips of non-woven fabric interwoven like weft and warp. The productsthus obtained, intended for the cleaning and protection of varioussurfaces, for example in the home, have performances equal to orsuperior to those of traditional products with a base of textile fibres.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is a textile product composed of aweft and a warp, in which the weft and/or the warp are composed ofstrips of non-woven fabric.

It has in fact been observed that strips of non-woven fabric, such asthose obtained from production trimmings, can be used in the same way astextile products on a loom and interwoven in the form of a weft andwarp, thus obtaining a fabric with a base of non-woven fibres.

The resulting textile product has proved to be a high-strength productwith considerable versatility of application: in particular the bestapplication of the fabric is in the field of cleaning or protection ofvarious surfaces. It can therefore be used in the manufacture of clothsfor cleaning floors, of cloths for cleaning small surfaces in the home(e.g. bathroom, kitchen, etc.), tablecloths, napkins, matting, mats,bedspreads, couch covers, cushion covers, car seat covers, doormats. Allthe manufacts obtained with the textile product concerned are also partof the present invention.

The strips of non-woven fabric used in the present invention arepreferably composed of hydroentangled, thermo-bonded or span-bondedfibres. Examples of materials that constitute non-woven fibres are:viscose, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, cellulose pulp.

For the above applications in the field of cleaning and protectingsurfaces, the non-woven fabric used has a weight/surface ratio between10 g/m² and 200 g/m², preferably between 50 g/m² and 65 g/m².

In one embodiment of the invention, both the weft and the warp of thetextile product concerned are composed of strips of non-woven fabric:this process results in products with considerable uniformity. However,the present invention also comprises materials in which the weft iscomposed of non-woven fibres and the warp of materials other thannon-woven, or vice-versa. In this case materials with differentcharacteristics, which give a different texture, are interwoven, thusallowing an increased grip between fabric and user, and between thefabric and the surface to be cleaned/protected.

The material other than non-woven fabric may be chosen from various yams(for example wool, silk, synthetic fibres such as nylon) or it may benon-yam, such as paper. In particular it has been observed that paperstrips can be efficiently interwoven with non-woven fabric, thusobtaining a textile product of high quality and strength.

The strips of which the present textile product are made, be they ofnon-woven or other material, have a width generally between 1 and 10 cm,preferably between 4 and 7 cm.

As indicated above, the non-woven strips may be a sub-product obtainedfrom processing waste, typically represented by strips of trimmings ofnon-woven fabric unwound from bobbins or reels. This method is thereforeexcellent for recycling these materials, obtaining a material with highadded value and thus fully recovering the value of the materialdiscarded during the processes for the production of articles innon-woven fabric.

Part of the invention is therefore a method for the recovery oftrimmings from the processing of non-woven fabric, characterised in thatsaid trimmings are interwoven to form a textile material, of which thenon-woven trimmings constitute the weft, the warp or both.

Although this invention is advantageously suitable for the recovery ofprocessing trimmings, it is nevertheless not to be understood as limitedto the use of that raw material. It is in fact also possible, and ispart of the present invention, to realise made-do-measure strips havingthe desired shape, dimensions and weight, and to interweave themtogether in the form of a weft and warp, in order to obtain productswith particular characteristics. It is clear that in this case, thanksto the constant and controlled dimensions of the strips used, theproduct will present greater uniformity and constancy of characteristicsin comparison with a product obtained from recycling strips, which aregenerally more variable in shape, dimensions and weight.

In a non limiting example of an embodiment of the present invention,selvedges (trimmings) of 4-5 cm were used, with a weight of 50-55 g/cm²;the selvedges were fed into a loom for weaving special products (withhigh teething), at the speed of 1 m/h, obtaining a web with a height of160 cm and a roll with a diameter of 50 cm; cloths were made withdimensions 40 cm×50 cm with absorbent capacities equivalent to those ofproducts (polyester viscose) used on the market. The strength in both CD(cross direction) and MD (machine direction) was considerably increased(about 3 times that of standard products). The cloth presentedconsiderable duration and resistance in time after being used to cleanfloors.

1. Textile product composed of a weft and a warp, in which the weftand/or the warp are composed of strips of non-woven fabric.
 2. Textileproduct according to claim 1, wherein the non-woven fabric is composedof hydroentangled, thermo-bonded or span-bonded fibres.
 3. Textileproduct according to claim 1, wherein the non-woven fabric is composedof a material chosen from viscose, polyethylene, polypropylene,polyamide, cellulose pulp.
 4. Textile product according to claim 1,wherein the non-woven fabric has a weight/surface ratio between 10 g/m²and 200 g/m².
 5. Textile product according to claim 4, wherein thenon-woven fabric has a weight/surface ratio of between 50 g/m² and 65g/m².
 6. Textile product according to claims 1, wherein both the weftand the warp are composed of strips of non-woven fabric.
 7. Textileproduct according to claim 1, wherein the weft or the warp is composedof strips of a material other than non-woven.
 8. Textile productaccording to claim 7, wherein said material other than non-woven ischosen from yarns, paper, synthetic fibres.
 9. Textile product accordingto claim 7, wherein said strips of non-woven fabric and/or said stripsof material other than non-woven have a width between 1 and 10 cm. 10.Textile product according to claim 9, wherein said strips of non-wovenfabric and/or said strips of material other than non-woven have a widthbetween 4 cm and 7 cm.
 11. Textile product according to claim 1, whereinsaid strips of non-woven fabric are obtained from processing waste. 12.Procedure for the preparation of the textile product described in claim1, characterised in that the strips of non-woven fabric are subjected toweaving, realising a fabric in which the weft and/or the warp arecomposed of said strips of non-woven fabric.
 13. Manufacture realisedwith the textile product described in claim
 1. 14. Manufacture accordingto claim 13, selected from the group consisting of a cloth for cleaningfloors, a duster or cloth for cleaning small surfaces in the home,tablecloth, napkin, matting, mat, mattress cover, bedspread, couchcover, cushion cover, car seat cover, and doormat.
 15. Method for therecovery of trimmings from the processing of non-woven fabric,characterised in that said trimmings are interwoven to form a textilematerial, of which the trimmings of non-woven fabric constitute theweft, the warp or both.